As the debate over UBB (Usage Based Billing) rages on, it would seem that  the ‘Big Telecom’  have all the right answers, or so they would like us to believe. Shame on them! I for one am growing tired of hearing how they need to pay for the infrastructure already in place when we all, as consumers, are being over billed for the services we now receive. Just why do they now want to own the internet? Bottom line… it’s just another money grab. I agree that they may very well own the backbone, (the wires, fibre optics, ect)but the internet is a vast infrastructure with many nodes,  avenues and stations all of which the "’Big Telecom’ have contributed nothing to, so why is it now they feel they should profit off of others? Millions of corporations, businesses and consumers the world round have all contributed to the infrastructure of the internet so should we not reap some rewards also?
A recent article on The Globe and Mail does well to sum it up nicely.

Bell’s vision is an Internet that’s more like your cellphone. Treat every new Internet application as a “feature” that incurs a new monthly fee. Charge a “termination fee” if you get sick of how things are going. Above all, make everything consumers do cost more!

Enough is ENOUGH!

“When you invest zero, yeah, it’s pretty easy to say the cost-per-gig or per-bit is small. But when you invest billions, you’ve got to generate a return”  Mirko Bibic - Bell’s senior vice-president for regulatory affairs

A recent ruling from the CRTC to allow the big telecom companies ie: the Big Three, (BCE Bell, TELUS Corp, Roger’s Communications) to charge subscribers a Pay Per Usage fee is drawing heavy criticism and rightly so.  Just how much should we have to pay to access the internet, and just what is to be the outcome of a metered internet? Are we not paying enough already?


How many times have we all seen this before? Seems to me that this is just another money grab from the big corporations who only have one thing on their minds. The almighty dollar. (Let the rich get richer while the poor get poorer…) Myself, I’m getting real tired of this. I have more than enough hands in my pockets already!

Listening to them trying to justify their actions by talking about the billions spent on infrastructure just leaves me feeling sick to my stomach. What about the billions they overcharge their consumers for the shoddy cable and cellular services where every thing you do seems to cost you extra? Now they want to control and take over the internet as well! Please, give us a break!


For myself, I find this very disturbing. As a web developer and someone who enjoys streaming different forms of media over the internet, it’s hard to comprehend just why I, or anyone for that matter, should have to pay any additional fee for content that’s more graphic intensive or consumes more bandwidth, when  that’s the driving force behind the internet today.  Most sites today are very graphic intensive and if you stream media you’re bound to consume some bandwidth.  An average person on the web today could easily consume between 50 to 100 gigs of bandwidth per month. As new sites become more graphic intensive and consume more bandwidth then their predecessor, why is it the consumer should have to pick up the tab?

Even non-tech-savvy users are bumping up against download limits, as households seek more entertainment online and connect gaming consoles to the Internet!

It’s a complex issue with many sides but having a pay per use billing system in place will bring the internet to a standstill and will stifle new innovation. I honestly don’t believe that the big three are hurting because of lost bandwidth. However they are more likely hurting because of the potential for billions more of our hard earned money pouring into their coffer has escaped their grasp. Let’s hope that the recent ire of big businesses who rely on heavy data transmissions and the intervention of the Harper Government puts a stop to this blarney that the telecom companies would like us to believe. If not, perhaps we may wake up one day to find what once was, is no more thanks to the greed of a very wealthy few…